Technical Resources

Plants for Pollinators

Updated 08/12/2009

Pollinators on narrow-leaved purple coneflower - Photo contributed by the Bismarck Plant Materials Center

Animal pollinators are needed for the reproduction of 90% of flowering plants and one third of human food crops. Pollinators include bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, birds, and bats. Each of us depends on pollinators in a practical way to provide us with the wide range of foods we eat. In addition, pollinators are part of the intricate web that supports the biological diversity in natural ecosystems that helps sustain our quality of life. Abundant and healthy populations of pollinators can improve fruit set and quality, and increase fruit size. In farming situations this increases production per acre. In the wild, biodiversity increases and wildlife food sources increase.

The NRCS-Plant Materials Program is working to select plants and provide recommendations on plants which will enhance pollinator populations throughout the growing season. These wildflowers, trees, shrubs, and grasses are an integral part of the conservation practices that landowners, farmers and ranchers install as part of their conservation plan.

Features

Pollinator Conservation - NRCS Manhattan Plant Materials Center
Saving Pollinators One Butterfly at a Time - Corvallis Plant Materials Center, Oregon
Come Hither, Bumblebee, and Pollinate - An article by Annd Raver, Apr 29, 2009 - New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/30/garden/30GARDEN.html?ref=garden

Publications

If you encounter any problems with the files provided on this page, please contact Leslie Glass at 701-250-4330.

The following documents require Acrobat Reader.

Using Farm Bill Programs for Pollinator Conservation (PDF; 278KB) Technical Note TN.190.B.78 - Using Farm Bill Programs for Pollinator Conservation is now available. Learn about Farm Bill programs and associated conservation practices that can increase pollinator populations for healthier and more profitable agro-ecosystems.

NRCS Wildlife Habitat Management Institute Brochure on Native Pollinators (PDF; 4.6 MB)

The Other Bees. (PDF; 55 KB) Williams, J, Savonen, Carol. 2008. Oregon Agricultural Progress, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR. Fall 2007,Vol.53,No.2,Oregon State University. 3p. (ID# 8195)

Pollinator Plants for Texas Conservation Practices. (PDF; 231 KB) Robert Ziehr. 2008. North American Range Plants, Southern Forages, Wildflowers in Bloom, AggieClover Website, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, The Xerces Society, and Pollinator Patnership., Temple, Texas. 9/11/2008. 6p. (ID# 8222)

Pollinators and Plant Materials. (PDF; 2 MB) R. Alan Shadow. 2008. etpmc, Nacogdoches, texas. 11p. (ID# 8051)

Native Pollinator Habitat Plants Matrix. (PDF; 4 MB) Alan Shadow. 2008. ETPMC, Nacogdoches, Texas. 2p. (ID# 8049)

Pollinator Plants of the ETPMC. (PDF; 335 KB) R. Alan Shadow. 2008. ETPMC, Nacogdoches, Texas. 1p. (ID# 8050)

Supplement to Pollinator Enhancement Practice. (PDF; 17 KB) Mike Owsley and Keith Wooster. 2008. FOTG for Broad River CSP Under practice 647, Athens, Ga. April 28, 2008. 1p. (ID# 7896)

Plants for Pollinators in the Intermountain West. (PDF; 1.3 MB) Ogle, Dan, Jim Cane, Frank Fink, Loren St. John and Mark Stannard. 2007. USDA - NRCS, Boise, ID. October 2007. 21p. (ID# 7641)

Introduction to Insect Pollinators. (PDF; 238 KB) Rees, J., Vaughn, M., Williams J. 2007. NRCS, Portland, Oregon. June 2007. 2p. (ID# 7561)

Plants For Pollinators In Oregon. (PDF; 401 KB) Pendergrass, K., Vaughan, M., and Williams, J. USDA-NRCS, Corvallis, OR. March 2008. 26p.

Montana Native Plants for Pollinator-Friendly Plantings. (PDF; 1.9 MB) Montana Plant Materials Staffs. USDA-NRCS, Bozeman, MT. April 2005. 8p.

Farming for Pollinators - Native Bees and Your Crops (PDF; 1.9 MB)

Pollinator Related Web Sites

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